Ron McKinven

A Scottish amateur international wing-half, Ron McKinven played in all three of Great Britain’s Games at the 1960 Olympics. He joined St Johnstone in 1959 after two spells at Queen’s Park and in between, one season at Stirling Albion. In total, he played in 268 Scottish League games, winning promotion from the second to first division on two occasions with St Johnstone. He retired from the game in 1966 and continued with his career as an interior designer in Scotland and later went to Qatar as an architect and design consultant.

He played alongside the great Sir Alex Ferguson at both Queen’s Park and St Johnstone and one day when disgruntled at not getting regular first team football Alex threatened to quit the game, it was McKinven who took him under his wing and talked him out of it and when St Johnstone was hit with a fu crisis, McKinven, by then the club captain, talked the manager into playing Ferguson against Rangers at Ibrox on 21 December 1963 - and he responded with a hat-trick as Rangers lost 3-2. It was the making of Ferguson.